SPACEMASTER

Omega Force check the Queen's Chambers for clues.
A smashed box is found bearing armbands containing some viscous green substance.

McJimmy begins to analyse the substance
using his scientific mind and technical know how. Someone intangible suggests to the normally stern Carlos Castillo that perhaps he should just go ahead and taste it. Carlos brow furrows at the absurdity of the intangible Sullustian's suggestion and then, just as quickly, the coldy calculating Correllian scoops a fingerful of the green goo and sticks it's into his maw. Carlos Castillo appears none the worse for wear for performing this action(seemingly).

The crestfallen team
continue their search but find nothing else of note. The Queen's Chambers, like the rest of the hive, is strangely inert and bereft of insectiod life. 'Whatever happened here I think we missed it'. Time passes as the team heal up and McJimmy continues his investigations into the strange green goo. It's definitely insectiod in origin, the Mon Calamari engineer proffers, a fact blissfully ignored by the unusually jovial Castillo. Boy is this puppy cranked?

Val Bodok notices movement
on a security camera outside the closed blast door giving access to the Queen's Chambers. From the looks of it they appear to be the dudes that the team recently fought down below on level 85. The plenty armed evil hombres have tracked the team to the Hive Chambers and set about trying to open the massive blast door to gain entry. The effort proves futile as they lack the calibre of man such as Carlos 'Fingers' Castillo and his +90 Lockpicks of Power! Carlos laughes like a madman during the opposing team's feeble efforts at gaining purchase into the Queen Chambers. The mercs (about 8 in all) eventually begin to tire of this endevour and prepare to exit the way they came. This leaves Castillo writhing around on the floor in esctasy. Val Bodok looks on in bemusement.

Then for no reason apparent
Carlos suddenly regains his feet and makes a bee line for the Blast Door control unit. 'Little Peegs..little Peegs I'll let you in...' he crackles. 'Leave the blast door controls alone and step away! barks Bodok aiming his 2 metre .50 calibre Super Fly Ultra Powered Mega Kill Option Engaged MLA rifle at the giggling Correllian. Carlos looks at Bodok as he moves his hand a little closer towards the Blast Door control level. 'I aint kidding human' whispers Bodok as the gargauntuan rifle remains fixed on Castillo's slender frame. The Correllian's hand inches yet closer to the lever controls. BANG!...the Weequay puts him down stone cold.

Excitement over
the medic rushes in to stablise Castillo and then decides to leave him sedated. This medication coupled to the -85 penalty on all actions leaves the Correllian somewhat out of all further proceedings within the Hive. Then suddenly some time passes.

The evil mercs return
as is their idiom. All of the original eight return but this time they've brought their friends, so another 4 bods make 10 mercs in total. Fully armed, fully loaded and tooled up with Big Machinery. The Big Machinery is manuvered over to the Blast Door control unit and plugged in whilst the remaining mercs assemble large guns or otherwise take up deeply secure positions.

McJimmy looks at the Big Machinery™
through the steady gaze of the security camera. They won't get through right? asks a worried Brian O'Blivion. McJimmy pauses and then cocks an eyeball in reply...'Right?' repeats Oblivion...to which the Mon Calamari engineer departs the vicinity of the security console and begins to pack up and tool up as quickly as he can. The others take their cues and do likewise. The prone corpse, doorstop body of Carlos Castillo is dragged and folded into a relatively safe position under some ventilation flutes rising into the ceiling.

PEEEERRRTTTIISSSSSSSHHHHHHHH!
The massive blast door rises about a foot from the floor. A James Cameronesque shot of many armoured legs and footwear can now be seen (if one was to look from the floor). It won't be long now. VA-VA-VOOOM! A Jedi Lightsaber is ignited. A blue blade reaches out under the blast door divide and scythes across and into the Big Machinery (plus any adjacent and sundry limbs or appendages). The sound of organic and non-organic screams fill the air. The blast door shudders to an buttock jarring stop about a metre and a half off the floor as the Big Machinery gloops out it's blue lifeblood onto the highly polished floor.

'And that is why..'
'..I always carry a Portable Missile Launcher with me at all times, hostage situation or no hostage situation, 'cause you never can tell..never can tell' regales Major Captain General Raphen Shondia of the Free Sullustian Free Space Free Marine Free Corp (under the aegis of the New Republic Defense Forces naturally).

'God will this creep ever shut up'
thinks Alini Sarason to himself.The Weequay's disposition today is bad, a 2 week undercover mission, followed by a frantic hyperspace journey to finally end up next to Captain Uberbore within a hive transport shuttle packed to the fecking brim with armoured sullustian midgets. How did it come to this eh? I was a being of means and power once...I *uncontrollable choke gesture* killed people for sport for Nar-Shak's sake!...this will not do!.

'Here we are then..'
continues the unfazed and unnaturally happy (enough-to-get-really-irratating) hotshot Sullustian Major as the shuttle finally reaches it's destination at Hive Station "Queen's Chambers". 'I knew we'd be able to track them down with these locators...oh hello?'.

Five recently disembarked Sullustian Space Marines,
one already cowering Weequay and Major Raphen Shondia MCUF MCG STARBURST (with Novas) of the Sullustian Space Marine Corp look across to 10 heavily armed mercs and a bleeding piece of big machinery....10 heavily armed mercs look over their shoulders at six 1.6 metre tall armoured rodents and 1 slightly stooping, lightly armoured, 2.2 metres tall, frail looking Weequay (now can you see why he's cowering?)..

A raging firestorm ensues...
Highlights consists of Major Shondia charging the mercs as an opening gambit and then lobbing grenades when two of his men, mice full bloodied Sullustian Space Marines are cut down like dogs before they've even had the time to take the safety off their assault blasters. It's a fine old ding dong of a battle..with many a banging, slicing and dare I say, a little playful MLAing? but we all know where this is gonna end..so lets just say you win (again!). That is good.

The surviving mercs are questioned
on what their doing here and why. Their a tight lipped bunch at first until Sarason gets out his Vibroscalpel then you can't get them to stop talking. They say their scavangers, word got around that the Stalagasin Hive on Genosis had been abandoned. No they don't know why zzzZZZ NO HONESTLY WE DON'T KNOW! zzzZZZZZ ARRGH!!

Milton exerts a restraining hand
on Sarason as the questioning continues (in the background Mattlock secretly takes notes 'Is Torture Ever Legal?). All the Mercs know is the the Hive was empty, as of roughly 3 months ago and they thought there'd get in quick to see what was salvagable..and make a quick elmonit or two...it's not like their stealing anything.. because as you can see the Hive's empty anyway..besides they're New Republic Citizens too and they pay their taxes and they don't take too kindly to this sort of strong arm treatment! zzzzZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!!!...

The Mercs stories all check out
so without further ado, Milton orders the surviving mercs to be put in the brig whilst the rest of the team are told to trash the Droid Assembly Lines as throughly as possible (with explosives) but the Jedi rejects Bodok's suggestion to basically make the Hive Reactor go 'Mushroom cloud'..and blast the whole fecking nest...whilst the Aardvark flys out into the blue sky...in slow mo...?...NO! repeats the unmoved Jedi.

McJimmy (for reason unknown..ok forgotten) needs to get back to the Aardvark
but instead of taking the tedious route back to the team's initial port of entry, the Mon Calamari engineer notices that the Ventilation Flunnels high above in the Queen's Chambers basically go out into the open. McJimmy gingerly engages his gravpack and flys up and out of the Hive Complex. Reaching the ship far out on the plateau is uneventful and after doing what he needs to do (still nothing) decides that it'd be a darn sight easier if the ship was closer to the Hive...and whilst one of his droids is doing this..the Mon Calamari has another idea...why land outside?, why not cleave off the top ventilation funnels in the Queen's Chambers and then land the ship right in the heart of the Hive? Probably save a lot of toing and throwing getting explosives and such...right?

The Aardvark roars overhead
the ventilation system of the Stalagasin Hive and begins to circle slowly. McJimmy meanwhile is strapping himself down into firing seat of the ship's MK6 QUAD BLASTER..'I've always wanted to do this' think McJimmy as he fiddles with the comm headset. 'Hey Milton?' 'Yeah' 'FIRE IN THE HOLD!' FHOOM! FHOOM! FHOOM! FHOOM! HA! HA!

The Blaster Fire is true
'Ha! nothing to it', thinks McJimmy. The area of the ventilation funnels hit by big bolts of mondo Blaster fire shatter and disintegrate..the funnels adjacent to the shattering and disintegrating areas..also...shatter and disintegrate...and so on... and so on..the scene on the outside is reminiscent of erm...imagine if you will the B&W footage of a youngish Frank Dibnah bringing down a large industrial brick chimney stack.

A Large Dust Mushroom cloud rises on the Genosian Plataeu
whilst down below..at the coalface so to speak...things have gone chalky? Team members still able to move stumble and sputter through the dust cloud trying not to breathe in the dust and to find..air More adroit team members are frantically trying to don filter masks or in Mr Bodok's case, engaging the wipers on this Bounty Hunter Speciale™ Sentinel Helmet.

Mattlock Starfigher staggers through the dust cloud
coughing and gagging and finally running out of air the Corellian falls unconscious against a section of Queen Chamber wall and passes through it?

Pandemonium Reigns
within the confines of the shattered Queen's Chambers. It only dies down when there is a sufficient number of filter mask wearing team members to help those less fortunate and when the cloud begins to dissipate. The sedated, unknowing, -85 penalty body of Carlos Castillo is dug out of a mound of fallen debris and then shovelled into a preservation unit.

Mattlock awakens to sweet sweet oxygen,
the Correllian is lying on what feels like hard marbles..'Mmmm they must have carried me to Milton's chambers and done some weird Jedi sheet on me' thinks Starfighter. Still in somewhat of daze, the Correllian levers himself into a sitting position and takes in his surroundings. 'Nope no such luck...more comforting Hive rockface, rockface...and marbles' as Mattlock brings a fistful of the marbles up to his face...his pupils dilate!

McJimmy gets his ass chewed out by the team
over the commlink but the engineer completes his plan and lands the Aarvark within the now dust covered confines of the Queen's Chambers. A flurry of expletives greet the Mon Calamari as he disembarks from the ship's cargo bay manuvering a Grav Sled. 'Stow it' replies McJimmy.. 'I've got stuff to do'. The Engineer then guides his Grav Sled loaded with explosives (presumely) and heads down to the droid assembly area.

Mattlock has finally stopped cavorting on the mound of jewels,
gems and other precious stones within this secret nook of the Hive Queen's Chambers. Hearing the muffled sounds of the ship landing outside..the Correllian pilot comes to his senses and begins to stuff the insides of his flightpants with as many jewels as will fit.

Eventually all the explosives are set
Mattlock returns, pants abulging (but who's gonna mention that right? Everyone packs away tools, loads anything left of worth (the box of green goo armbands) into the Aardvark's cargo bay. As Mattlock and Brian Oblivion shoot the breeze on the cargo bay ramp, a large green spherical object trickles down Mattlock's pants, clatters into the metal ramp, rolls down and past a unsuspecting McJimmy the Finn steering his Gravsled and lands with a 'fhud' onto the dust covered floor. No one notices this phenomenon bar the good doctor. Dr Brian O'Blivion pauses in his deathstick smoking and cock's an inquiring eyebrow in the direction of Mattlock Starfighter. The Correllian pilot smiles and raises a finger to his lips ...shhhhhhh....

Milton closes the cargo bay ramp
when all are aboard and then signalled to Starfighter to take the Aardvark up and out into space. The Correllian pilot obliges after a not inconsiderable & eye-watering time sliding into his pilot's seat. Alarms bells ring loudly in the ever watchful mind of McJimmy the Finn...Mattlock had trouble getting into his pilot seat...he must be plotting something!...normally this paranoia would be just that..paranoia but today I fear not.

Another dust cloud erupts and rises above the Stalagasin Hive
as the planted underground explosives are detonated by a remote signal. Starfighter rockets the ship into orbit in double quick time and then requests to leave the bridge to relieve himself. Milton noting the state of Starfighter's pants and the tear streaked face feels no great urge to deny this request and signals his agreement. So without further ado fellow adventurers, the Correllian makes good his escape...Hurrah!...but watched, oh yes watched my friends on the internal monitors, by the ever watchful, ever suspicious, ever the only good correllian is a dead correllian evil seeking, bulbous eye of McJimmy the Finn. You know of what I speak...the great Eye of McJimmy™, lidless wreathed in piskine scales.

As the ship cruises in orbit, Alini Sarason explains of their timely arrival.
He's been on a undercover mission on the planet of Duroon. Basically the New Republic Intel agencies had learn of some illict trade in droid components. Components which are fundamental to the construction of the Mark 3 'Murdoch Model' Combat Droids (these where the ones that came with a hair's breath of killing the New Republic Chancellor). Sarason was able to infiltrate one group of smugglers and learnt that these the components where being shipped to a planet in the Tion Hegmony for mondo elmonits. The trade was a very lucrative one.

The Tion Hegmony is a area of space governed by a race of large insectiods. This hegmony is not affliated to the New Republic (or the Empire or even the Old Republic) but an independent entity. Despite their fierce appearance and size, the Tions have never been known as being aggressive or even particulary interested in New Republic affairs. This new belligirent development is worrying and New Republic High Command have decided to sent the team in to investigate the situation.

The Pride of Sullust will be sent into Tion space
on a Diplomatic Mission. The team are on strict(est) orders not to antognise the Tions, but to establish a diplomatic outpost in Tion Space and to garner information and perhaps uncover what the Tions are doing with these droid components.

During the Hyperspace jump into Tion space
McJimmy the Finn and Dr Brian OBlivion get talking about the deadly nature of the Mark 3 Combat Droids and possible strategies to defeat them if the team come face to face with them. 'The Oblivion Virus might not work this time' remarks Brian, 'they will have adapted'. This possibility is worrying if the Tions have constructed large numbers of Mark 3's so the engineer and computer expert decide to pool their considerable talents to constuct an premier anti-droid weapon.

A prototype of the "oBliviMac" is designed
and then constructed. The weapon is somewhat bulky due to the limited parts available on the Sullust, but a test firing is arranged and Bodok's Combat Droid 'Mr Zee' draws the short straw for testing purposes. Val Bodoks hefts the weapons and aims it at the quivering droid. WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEm!. The weapon's yellow swirly beam hits Mr Zee square in the chest and sends it reeling onto the floor. Within moments the Droid's internal circuits are completely overloaded and it's self preservation circuits kick in to shut the droid down to avoid permanent damage. A sucession of high fives break out in the testing range area.

McJimmy and Oblivion talk money
Obviously such a dead cert droid killer will be a sure fire winner in the home defense market. So the Mon Calamari Engineer and Correllian Computer Expert retire to an empty room to thrash out a contract between their respective companies. McJimmy Engineers of Mon Calamar and oBlivion Corp of no Fixed Abode..a most unholy alliance of the most Evil Computing Company in the known universe married to the industrial military complex of the most Evil Engineering Company in the known universe. The discussions are thus somewhat protracted...use of the swivel chair is one such sticking point and some innocent onlookers might state that discussions at ACAS have taken less time than this epic meeting.

The only other incident of note
aboard the Pride of Sullust as it hurtles towards Tion Space is the old tale. Mattlock Starfighter has a fortune of jewels unknown to anyone else. McJimmy the Finn even thou he can't prove anything knows that the Correllian Pilot is up to something...so the Great Eye of McJimmy is hard on the case following the Correllian's movement aboard the Sullust. McJimmy sees Mattlock walk into escape pod 5 on the Aardvark in a suspicious manner. The Correllian checks the corridor furtively before entering the escape pod. 'Gotcha' thinks McJimmy to himself and press a button on his console. A non descript face appears on one of the bank of console monitors. 'I have work for you'.

The Pride of Sullust arrives in the Tion Hegemony.
The Tions soon establish contact and request that the New Republic vessel head to 'Saheelindel', the Tion home system. Here they will have an audience with the TION Queen. The short jump to Saheelindel passes without note. The Sullust heads to the second planet in the star system and makes landfall at the designated area. A mass of TIONs, (who look like 'Aliens' from outta the film 'Aliens', only bigger) await the New Republic delegation.

The New Republic diplomatic delegation is escorted into a nearby Hive.
The Tions insectiods appear quite placid and the NR team determine that their Tech level is superior to that of the TIONs. TION gravitics are somewhat primitive and TION weaponry is primarily Disruptor based. The NR Team are carried to a reception area within the Hive and given time for rest and refreshment.

The foodstuff that make up the TION refreshment are somewhat 'interesting'
to say the least but a few brace souls attempt some of the local delicacies. Dr Oblivion consumes some of the morsels and concludes that TION food is of an 'acquired taste' thus causing the majority to leave it well alone.

The NR delegation are lead further and deeper into the Hive
and after a few *hours* of underground travel they arrive at the Tion Queens' Audience Chamber. The Queen is a gargantuan creature (who kinda looks like the 'Alien Queen' from outta 'Aliens', only bigger and with a better taste in music). Milton Scraggs, the budding Jedi senses massive life force readings whilst within the Queen's presence.

A diplomatic ballet ensues
and as it does so Jedi Scraggs determines that the Queen seems to be in Telepathic contact with all the other TION Queens in the Hegemony. The sheer power of using the Force over interstellar distance awes the Jedi. At a point in the diplomatic endevours, the Queen asks Dr Oblivion if she can 'GROK' him in his fullness? Brian, taken aback and somewhat concerned, asks if the 'GROKKing' will be painful in any way? The Queen assures the good Doctor that she does not wish to eat him if that is what he's afraid off. Reassured, Dr Obivion gives his accent. To which, the TION Queen engulfs the good doctor within a mass of gloopy alien tentacles and lifts him high into the air!

Inside the fetid alien insectiod cocoon
...Brian Oblivion is being probed and sampled to within an inch of his life. The experience is not all together displeasurable once the docter's rampant fear begins to dissipates. After some time, the Queen deposits the gloop covered, zinging Dr Oblivion back onto the floor of the Audience Chamber. Other party members submit to GROKKing by the Tion Queen as the discussions continue.

The Tions agree
to the New Republic setting up an embassy in Tion space. The team are suprised to learn that the Tions have been dealing with NR bods already, all of this activity is taking place in the Brigia system. Why?...one of the local Queens' so desires, grokking new experiences is a Tion passion.

The Queen notices something unusual
about Starfighter (but who doesn't, after all he's special 8-)) and wishes to GROK him in his fullness (hot slurpy alien action). Matt is a little unsure about subjecting to such an inspection but a huge mound of gold to recompense for his troubles changes things around almost instancely.

The Queen finds Starfighter to *be* different,
his level of individuality to the point of self destruction is unusal and dem being instectiods a concept difficult to grasp. Why would you do this? The Queen thanks Matt for the experience of his unique individuality anyway.

The Queen gives permission for the Team to check out Brigia
and informs that whatever occurs afterwards will be that what shall be??? The only proviso is that the Pride of Sullust must remain on the system periphery.

The Stalagsin Hive on Geonosis is deserted.
and has been for several months. The only inhabitants within the Hive seems to be mercenaries or smugglers trying to make a quick buck by salvaging any combat droids / Geonosian Tech that has been left.

A Crate of Arm Bracelets containing Insectiod Jelly
was found in the Geonosian Queen's Chamber.

Alini Sarason has discovered that contraband Droid Parts
are being shipped from the Duroon system and into the Tion Hegemony.

The Tion Hegemony is an independant area of space
not affliated to the New Republic and is home to a race of passive insectiods. Little is known about the TIONs so the plan is to discover what is happening in TION space.

McJimmy the Finn should on no account,
ever be allowed to operate the Aardvark's Quad Blaster cannon again!